Matthew 24:31 His elect gathered together

144,000 messengers are sent by the Lord into the world. They are selected from a believing Israel and sealed. They are safe from the horrors that will strike the earth. What is their job? We find two aspects of this in Matthew 24. We have already covered one element of their message because it emerged in the first part of Jesus’ speech.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout all the inhabited world, for a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

the gospel of the Kingdom
Before the end (>of the aeon, verse 3) comes, the gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world. By who else but the 144,000? They will be sent out into the earth proclaiming that the King has arrived, that He has taken His throne and that He is going to establish His Kingdom throughout the world. That will not happen without a fight ,and hence the judgments of the trumpets and bowls in Revelation. For example, Psalm 2 also describes that the nations will resist the rule of Christ, but God has appointed His King and He will crush them.

saved
Those who will believe the gospel of the Kingdom proclaimed by the 144,000 are called to endure to the end. And if they do this, they will be saved (:13). Being saved in this context means that whoever endures until the end of the aeon, will enter the aeon to come (Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30), the Kingdom of Christ. The aeon of a thousand years, in which Satan will be bound (Rev.20:2).

The other task of the 144,000 is discussed further in verse 31:

31 …and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

together collection
The 144,000 are sent out to gather the Israelites in the dispersion to the land. There are many prophecies in the Hebrew Bible that will then be fulfilled (including Deut.4:29-30; 30:1-6; Neh.1:8; Jer.32:37-38).

Ezekiel 37
Several times earlier in this series we have referred to the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, where the prophet receives a vision of a valley full of dry bones. These bones come together, tendons, flesh and skin appear, but at first there is no life in them (Eze.37:1-8). But then it says:

Ezekiel 37
9 And He said to me, Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and you say to the spirit, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.
the four winds.

Just like in Matthew 24:31, Ezekiel 37 mentions the four winds, the four directions. A dead Israel, scattered among the nations, will be raised to life through the proclamation of the word by the 144,000 and gathered from all corners of the world to the land.

Ezekiel 37
10 And I prophesied, as He instructed me; and the spirit cometh into them, and they live, and stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

The assembled Israel of the future is presented as a great army. In Revelation 7:9 they are called a great multitude, which no man could number, from every nation, and tribes, and people, and tongues.

Ezekiel 37
11 And he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dry, and our hope is perished. We were cut off.
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves, and I will bring you out of your graves, O my people, and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
(…)
14 I will put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will establish you on your land.
(…)
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations, whither they go; and I will gather them from every side, and I will bring them to their own land.
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all.

What a wonderful future we read here for the people of Israel. Now without hope, cut off and in the grave. But then they receive the spirit and they will live. They are gathered back to the promised land and there the Messiah will be King over them.